Work supports of the type commonly referred to as sawhorses provide a waist high work station on which may be performed any number of tasks, primarily woodworking. Conventional sawhorses generally have a wooden cross beam supported by two pairs of downwardly diverging legs, each pair extending downward in a vertically and horizontally supporting relationship. The structure of the conventional sawhorse is such that it must be stored in a rigid and bulky state, which requires substantially more space than if the sawhorse were disassembled or folded.
The storage space required can be reduced greatly where the sawhorse structure is easily folded or disassembled. A sawhorse structure of this type is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,754,844. In this patent, the legs in supporting relationship can be folded under the connecting cross beam to create a relatively compact structure for storage. U.S. Pat. No. 4,508,194 shows a collapsible sawhorse where the legs are rotated into a parallel relationship with the connecting cross beam, thereby reducing the width of the sawhorse for storage. However, the sawhorse structures of these patents are heavy, expensive to manufacture, complicated to operate, and difficult to maintain in a readily operable condition.
A desirable feature of any work support structure that is capable of being broken into smaller components or reduced in size is the speed and ease with which it can be assembled and disassembled. A sawhorse that requires nails or bolts to be removed or installed will frequently be stored in its rigid configuration because of the inconvenience of its disassembly, whereas a sawhorse that is easily reduced in size will be more often stored in its smaller configuration. In addition, the more steps required to place a sawhorse in a storage condition, the less likely this feature will be used.